Apparatus for roughening leather surfaces



June 14, 1938. H GQRDON v 2,120,835

APPARATUS FOR ROUGHENING LEATHER SURFACES Filed Aug. 10, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Hiram ordarz/ June 14, 1938. H. GORDON APPARATUS FOR ROUGHENING LEATHER SURFACES 2 Shets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 10, 1937 mm m 1% a m a 53 w w Patented June 14, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FOR ROUGHENING LEATHER SURFACES Application August 10, 1937, Serial No. 158,385

6 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved machine for abrading or scarifying strips of leather and other analogous materials, such as those used in shoe manufacture. In the formation of welt shoes, elongated strips of leather, known as welts, are stitched to shoe insoles and to other portions of these welts the shoe outsoles are secured. In effecting a secure union between the marginal portions of the outsoles and the welt strips, it is quite customary to use cements or adhesives, as well as stitching, in obtaining firm, permanent connections. Usually these leather welt strips, as obtained by shoe manufacturers from com mercial sources of leather supply, possess rela tively smooth surfaces with which an adhesive does not readily unite.

It is therefore the practice of shoe manufacturers to roughen or scarify one or more surfaces of the welt strips so that the cement or adhesive used will readily penetrate the same and become more effective in securing adherence between the leather outsole and the welt strip. The roughening or scarifying of such strips has been largely accomplished by hand operations which are com paratively slow and expensive.

An object of the present invention is to provide improved apparatus by which leather welt forming strips may be rapidly and automatically passed through the apparatus and subjected on one or more surfaces thereof to a rubbing or abrading action by which the fibers of the leather are picked up and the pores of the leather opened to render the same readily permeable to the action of a leather cement.

For a further understanding of the invention, reference is to be had to the following description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a leather abrading and scarifying machine constructed in accordance with the present invention;

t Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken through the machine on the plane indicated by the line III-III of Fig. 2, and disclosing more particularly the abra-ding or scarifying wheel and the feed rollers for advancing a leather strip through the machine;

Fig. 4 is ,a detail vertical sectional View of the journal bearings for the feeding rollers, the plane of the figure being indicated by the line IV-IV of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a detail vertical sectional view of the journals for effecting the support of the abrading and scarifying wheel, taken on the line V-V of Fi v Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the machine disclosing the belt drives for the scarifying wheel, the feed rolls and the take-up reel;

Fig. '7 is a detail sectional view of the foot control clutch mechanism for regulating the appli 5 cation of power to the machine;

Fig. 8 is a plan view of a strip of welt leather abraded or scarified by the machine comprising the present invention;

Fig. 9 is a sectional view through the leather strip on the line IX-IX of Fig. 8.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the numeral l designates a bed or table having suitably supported upon the upper surface thereof for rotation a bristle wheel 2 and strip feeding rolls 3. The wheel 2 is formed with stiff radially extending wire bristles, as indicated at 4 and a strip of welt leather, as indicated at 5, is adapted to be drawn by the rolls 3 through a stationary guide 6 arranged in registration with the lower part of the bristle wheel 2 so that the bristles of the rapidly revolving wheel 2 will be brought into contact with the upper surface of the strip to scuff, abrade or roughen the same, lifting the fibers of the latter to render the same readily 25 receptive for a leather cement. The welt strips 5 are supplied from reels, not shown, and after one end of the strip has been threaded through the guide 6 and the feed rolls 3, the operation of the machine is automatic. 0

Power is applied to the machine by means of a stepped cone pulley 1, around one of the surfaces of which a belt 8 is passed leading from a suitable prime mover, such as a pulley on a line shaft or a pulley on the shaft of an electric motor. The belt wheel I is loosely rotatable on a supporting shaft 9, the latter being j ournaled in bearings l0 carried by a bracket II, which is attached to and depends from the under side of the bed or table I. One end of the belt wheel 'l 40 includes a conical clutch face i2, which is arranged to be manually engaged or disengaged with the corresponding face It provided upon a belt wheel I4, the latter being fixed on the shaft 9.

Pivotally mounted as at l5 on the bracket ll is a clutch arm I6. One end of this arm is connected with a link I! which leads to a pivoted foot treadle, not shown, by which the clutch arm may be oscillated about its pivot l5 and against the resistance of a coil spring 18 connected therea with, to control engagement of the clutch faces l2 and I3. For instance, when the clutch pedal is depressed, the arm I6 is oscillated against the resistance of the spring I8. This causes a fork l9, integrally formed with the arm IE, to engage with one end of the belt wheel I, sliding the latter on the shaft 9, against the pressure of a coil spring 20, interposed between the wheels l and I4, so that the clutch faces l2 and I3 will be engaged, thereby transmitting the power applied to the wheel I to the belt wheel l4. Also, one end of the arm I6 is provided with a brake extension 2| which, when the clutch faces l2 and I3 are engaged, is spaced from the periphery of the wheel |4, allowing the latter to rotate freely with the wheel 1. However, when the foot pedal is released and the clutch arm assumes its normal position, under the influence of the springs l8 and 20, the brake extension 2|, as shown in Fig. 7, will bear on the peripheral portion of the belt wheel l4 to arrest rapidly the rotation of the latter.

The bristle wheel 2 is carried by a longitudinally extending shaft 22 which, as shown in Figs. 1 and 5, is mounted for rotation within bearings 23 stationarily supported on the upper surface of the bed or table I. One end of the shaft 22 is equipped with a sheave wheel 24, around which passes an endless belt 25, the latter having its lower portion trained around a sheave guide 25 provided in connection with the belt wheel l4. By this construction, the powerof the machine is readily transmitted to the bristle wheel.

The bristle wheel preferably comprises a central body 21 with which the radiating wire bristles 28 are connected, the bristles being confined laterally by a pair of disks 29, which are clamped on the outer end of the shaft 22 by means of the threaded appliances 3!), the outer ends of the bristles 29 projecting beyond the peripheral edges of the disks. Immediately below the wheel 2, the upper surface of the bed or table is provided with a block 3|, constituting a portion of the guide 6. The block is formed with reduced ends 32, and guide bolts 33, carried by the bed regulate the longitudinal positions of the block on the table. The block is adjustable toward and away from the lower portion of the wheel 2 by means of set screws 34 carried by the reduced extensions 32. The top of the block 3| is equipped with a guide member 35 through which the leather welt strips 5 are passed as they are brought into engagement with the bristles of the wheel 2, the top of the guide member 35 being recessed as at 35 for the reception of the lower portion of the bristles 4 of said brush and to permit the bristles to directly engage the desired area of the leather strip 5 as the latter is being advanced through the supporting guide 6.

To control the feeding of the welt strip and its automatic advance through the machine, the bed I is provided with a pair of spaced upright brack ets 31 which slidably support sets of bearing boxes 38 in which the shafts 39-39 of the guide rolls 3 are mounted. The upper of the shafts 39 is provided at one end with a sheave wheel 40, around which passes an endless belt 4|, which is crossed, as shown in Fig. 6, and trained over a sheave extension 42 provided in connection with the belt wheel I4. By so positioning the belt 4|, the rolls 3 will be rotated to draw the leather, strip through the guide 6 in a direction opposed to the rotation of the bristle wheel 2, the leather I strip 5 moving in the direction indicated in Fig. 3

of the shafts 39 has its peripheral portion roughened, as indicated at 44 in order to exercise a positive grip on the leather strip engaged therewith, while the lower roll 3?) is annularly grooved to receive the strip and the roughened peripheral portion of the roll 3a, both of the rolls 3a and 31) being fixed to the shafts 39. The brackets 31 carry coil springs 45, the lower ends of which engage with the upper of the bearing boxes 38, and set screws 45 are carried by the upper portions of the brackets 31 for regulating the compression of the springs 45. The shafts 39 are each equipped at one end with a spur gear 41, these gears being intermeshing so that the upper and lower of the shafts 39, as well as the rolls 3a and 3b attached thereto will be positively rotated in opposite directions, as indicated by the arrows D and E in Fig. 3.

The rear portion of the bed or table is provided with bracket extensions 48, which effect the support of an arbor 49. This arbor is adapted to receive a take-up reel 59. Upon this reel the brushed or roughened leather strip is wound up after the strip has passed through the machine. The arbor 49 is driven by means of a shaft 5| and a belt 52, the said belt passing around a sheave extension 53 formed with the belt wheel l4.

In view of the foregoing, it will be seen that the present invention provides a simple, readily controlled and positively operating machine for roughening, scarifying or abrading strips of leather or similar material in an expeditious and substantially automatic manner. The machine possesses a very high capacity and avoids the slow laborious hand work hitherto used in this connection. The welt strip as supplied to the machine is longitudinally grooved as shown at 54 in Figs. 8 and 9 so that the same may be easily flexed when applied to a shoe. Its adhesive receiving surface 55 is located on the upper surface of the strip at one side of the groove 54, and therefore the guide 5 is formed to limit the action of the bristles 4 of the wheel 2 to the area indicated at 55 on the strip. By reference to Fig. 9, it will be noted that the wheel lifts or elevates the grain of the leather so that the fibers of the leather will be better adapted for the reception of the adhesive.

While the machine herein disclosed is particu larly well adapted for carrying out the ends of the present invention, nevertheless, it will be understood that the apparatus is subjected to considerable modification without departure from its essential features, and I therefore reserve the right to employ all such modifications thereof that may be said to fall squarely within the scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A machinefor abrading strip stock comprising a support, a guide for the strip stock mounted on said support, a pair of power driven rolls positioned adjacent said guide to draw the stock therethrough, one of said pair of rolls being roughened to grip said stock, a circular wire brush rotatably supported in registration with said guide, means for rotating said brush in a direction opposed to that of the stock, and means for adjusting the guide toward and away from said brush. 7

2. A machine for abrading strip stock comprising a support, a wire brush .journaled for rotary movement on said support, a stock guiding member carried by said support in registration with said brush, a pair of rolls arranged edge to edge and rotatably carried by said support in spaced relation from said wire brush, the periphery of one of said rolls being grooved to receive the strip stock, the periphery of the other roll being roughened to firmly hold said stock in the groove of the other roll, means for rotating said rolls in opposite directions to move said stock therebetween, and means for imparting rotary movement to said wire brush to scratch said stock as it moves through said guide.

3. A stock abrading machine comprising a support, a horizontally extending shaft journaled for rotation above said support, a circular wire brush secured to said shaft for rotation therewith, a stock guide block carried by said support in registration with the edge of said brush, means engaging said block and support for adjusting the former toward and away from said brush, a pair of parallel longitudinally extending shafts mounted for rotation on said support in spaced relation from said first shaft, a roll secured to each of said pair of shafts, said rolls being in registration with one another and said guide block, means for rotating the shafts of said pair in opposite directions to move the stock therebetween and through said guide, and means for rotating said wire brush at a greater rate of speed than said pair of rolls and in a direction opposed to that imparted to said stock.

4. A stock abrading machine comprising a support, a stock guide block mounted on said sup port, a shaft journaled for rotary movement on said support, said shaft extending at right angles to said guide, a scarifying wheel secured to said shaft in registration With said guide block, adjusting means for moving said block relative to said wheel, a pair of shafts extending parallel to said first shaft, bearing means for rotatably supporting said pair of shafts, intermeshing gears carried by said pair of shafts, a grooved roll secured to one of said pair of shafts, a roughened roll secured to the other of said shafts, the edge of the latter extending into the groove of the former, and means for imparting rotation to said first mentioned shaft and one of support, said shaft extending at right angles to said guide, a scarifying wheel secured to said shaft in registration with said guide, adjusting means for moving said block relative to said wheel, a pair of shafts extending parallel to said first shaft, adjustable bearing means for rotatably supporting said pair of shafts, intermeshing gears carried by said pair of shafts, a grooved roll secured to one of said pair of shafts, a roll secured to the other of said shafts, the edge of the last-mentioned roll extending into the groove of the first-mentioned roll, means for imparting rotary movement to said first-mentioned shaft and one of said pair of shafts, said means including a sheave wheel carried by each of said shafts to be driven, a power driven shaft journaled on said support in spaced relation from the aforementioned shafts, a multiple grooved belt wheel secured to said last-mentioned shaft with the grooves therein registering with the grooves in said sheave wheels, and endless belts positioned in the grooves in said sheave wheels and the corresponding grooves in said belt wheel.

6. A stock abrading machine comprising a support, a stock guide mounted on said support, a shaft journaled for rotation on said support above said guide, a scarifying wheel secured to said shaft in registration with said guide, a pair of shafts extending parallel to said first shaft, bearing means for rotatably supporting said pair of shafts, intermeshing gears carried by said pair of shafts, a roughened roll secured to one of said pair of shafts, a second roll secured to the other of said pair of shafts in registration with said roughened roll, means for imparting controlled rotation to the first-mentioned shaft and one of said pair'o-f shafts, said means including a shaft journaled for rotation on said support in spaced relation from the other shafts, a power driven pulley rotatably carried by said shaft, a multi-grooved belt wheel carried by said shaft, clutch means disposed between said pulley and said belt wheel, manually operated means for actuating said clutch, a sheave wheel carried by said first shaft and one of said pair of shafts, and endless belts received by said sheave wheels and the grooves in said belt wheel.

HIRAM GORDON. 

